Fake Friday: “But I entered my code backwards, just like I saw on Pinterest!”

“Great TIP! If a thief forces you to take money from an ATM, do not argue or resist. What you should do is punch your pin in reverse. EX: if your pin is 1234 you punch 4321. The moment you punch in the reverse, the money will come out but will be stuck in the machine and the machine will immediately alert the police without the thief’s knowledge. Every ATM has this feature. Can’t believe I never knew this!! Very good too know in case this should ever happen!”

OK, so you’re standing at the ATM about to put your card in the slot, and someone wearing a lucha libre mask and a tutu is suddenly holding a gun to your temple and telling you to withdraw funds or he’s going to blow your fucking brains out.

Calm, cool, collected you is unruffled by this curious, violent apparition and, remembering that thing you pinned-now-to-read-later (and actually did go back and read) nonchalantly punch your PIN into the machine in reverse, then smile smugly as the thief tries to pull your money out of the machine and is foiled when the machine won’t let it go.

Rather than blowing your brains out, the thief removes the gun from your temple and stares at the machine while scratching his head through his mask at this unexpected development. Here he was, planning on a big night out, dressed in his finest, and now he’s been thwarted by clever, clever you. Maybe he does a pirouette at this point, or a grande jété, or mimes a box and big, dripping tears, I don’t know. Eventually, the cops arrive, he’s arrested and you have this great story to tell while you’re sitting at T.G.I. Friday’s eating your Loaded Potato Skins. All because you re-pinned this pin!

Or, instead, as seems to be illustrated in the photo above, two people (who may or may not be twins, and may or may not be bandits) enter the ATM. One bandit does some major adjusting to his package, then a little more, then both bandits decide it would be fun to try to use the ATM in a language other than their own. They quickly grow bored (what does “Мы будем требовать плату за 3 долл. США за эту операцию” mean anyway, they wonder), so you liven things up by asking someone to check if you have any boogers. One bandit obliges, but only after drawing his gun, because he has not forgotten The Great Booger Incident of 1997. You’re given the all-clear, then the bandit receives a phone call from his girlfriend. He’s supposed to be home alone gathering mailing addresses from his side of the family for their wedding invitations, so he quickly puts his hand over your mouth to quiet you so that his girlfriend doesn’t know he left the house, accidentally knocking you down in the process. After he hangs up, he apologizes for his rudeness and makes sure you are OK. You all pick up the trash that missed the basket, then go out for frozen margaritas and karaoke.

Right.

This pin does actually have a nugget of truth in its history, but it’s fake, as dis-proven by Snopes.